Deion Branch spent seven years with the Patriots, including 2012 when he had 16 catches. / Steve Dykes, USA TODAY Sports

by Jarrett Bell, USA TODAY Sports

by Jarrett Bell, USA TODAY Sports

FOXBOROUGH, Mass. -- Maybe it's extreme to envision that Indianapolis Colts coaches have locked Deion Branch inside a cold, windowless room while shining a bright light in his eyes in order to extract some dark secrets about Bill Belichick's system.

But hey, it's the NFL playoffs. Teams have been known to even spy on an opponent to gain a competitive advantage. So what's wrong with a little interrogation for the ex-Patriot?

Kyle Arrington, the New England Patriots nickel back, nervously laughed at the suggestion.

Branch, who hasn't played a down all season, was signed Monday by the Colts to help shore up a receiving corps that lost Reggie Wayne in mid-October and likely will be without Darius Heyward-Bey, who is nursing a hamstring injury.

What a coincidence that they sign him this week. Branch, 34, can return to Gillette Stadium Saturday in the AFC divisional playoff (8:05 p.m. ET, CBS), with a chance to upset the team that kicked him to the curb.

He, too, laughed at the questions Wednesday about the intel value he may offer.

He figures the Colts advance scouting covered the bases before he arrived. Besides, he's familiar enough with Belichick to know that whatever play-calls or nuances the Patriots used when he played in New England last season have since been scrapped.

"That's daily with Bill," Branch told reporters in Indianapolis. "It's hard to give a tip on his thoughts."

The Patriots have been down this road already this season. Wes Welker, the franchise's all-time leading receiver, came back to town in November with the Denver Broncos and it did not work out for Welker. He was held to four catches for 31 yards - and had a role in the muffed punt in overtime that set up the field goal capping New England's amazing comeback

Even so, the Colts' newest addition - still connected through friendship with Tom Brady - provides an intriguing subplot. He's the enemy now.

Branch holds the Patriots playoff record for receiving yards in a game, and before that was achieved he was named MVP of Super Bowl XXIX.

Sure, that was a long time ago.

That he was the franchise's last Super Bowl MVP reminds you of how long it has been - nine years - since Belichick and Brady won it all.

That the team didn't bring him back this season, especially given the upheaval of the receiver corps due to Welker's departure and injuries, sent the message to Branch that they were better off without him.

The Colts sent another message.

"I don't see how it can hurt you," Colts coach Chuck Pagano said of the signing earlier this week. "We'll see how fast he picks up the terminology and the offense. We know he's more than capable of making plays."

It would be shocking if Branch, a 13th-year vet, played more than a handful of plays. The former Patriot on the Colts who will likely have a bigger impact on the game is kicker Adam Vinatieri, still going strong at 41 in his 18th season. And still remembered for all of those clutch kicks with the Patriots.

Branch, meanwhile, acknowledged that learning the playbook on the fly has been such a challenge.

"Stuff's just flying around," he said, talk of play designs in his head.

Still, the timing and circumstances could mean more than the number of snaps, if he plays.

Look at Austin Collie. The former Colts receiver was brought back by the Patriots this week for the third time during a cut-and-paste type of season. He logged just six catches in 2013, but two of them were huge in the final minute of the comeback win against the Saints in Week 6. Time and circumstances.

And intel.

Andrew Luck, the gung-ho second-year Colts quarterback, doesn't hesitate to admit an interest in tapping into the fresh resource that is Branch.

"I definitely will pick his brain," Luck said during a conference call.

The greatest value would likely come with observations about nuances regarding particular players, rather than schemes. Maybe, for instance, he remembers how a cornerback reacted to a double-move.

In adding Branch, Colts GM Ryan Grigson has pulled off the type of move you'd expect from Belichick, who leaves no stone unturned.

Of course, Belichick - who was once busted in the Spygate scandal for videotaping New York Jets hand signals - downplays the impact that can be gained through such transactions.

In fact, he said, "I think that's way overrated."

He wasn't necessarily talking about Branch, but players facing ex-teams in general.

"Honestly, I think now we have enough trouble doing all the things that we do, and getting them right," he said. "To be able to not only know everything that you're doing, then also figure out everything that they're doing, it's pretty overrated."

Asked whether he would specifically change anything this week because of Branch's signing, Belichick went into his typical competitive mode and revealed nothing beyond your imagination.

"We do whatever we think is best," he said.

Arrington knows enough about Branch from practicing against him to realize that at the very least, the Colts have added a savvy veteran. Maybe that provides something that can help in a big game.

"He might have lost a step and-a-half - I won't go as far as saying he's lost two steps," Arrington said. "But he's extremely smart. And he's such a competitor. But at the end of the day, it still comes down to winning your matchups, because every play is a battle."

And with the stakes as they are, people will do almost anything to win.